Shakespeare on demand: Globe puts plays online

LONDON - Theater fans can now stream some Shakespeare, if they have the bandwidth for the Bard.

Shakespeare's Globe, London's reconstructed Elizabethan playhouse, is making its productions available for download through a video-on-demand service.

Globe Player will offer more than 50 filmed productions to rent or buy, including an acclaimed all-male "Twelfth Night" starring Mark Rylance, as well as interviews with Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Jude Law and others.

Artistic director Dominic Dromgoole said Tuesday the Globe was "the first theater with its own dedicated video-on-demand platform." He said it would help the company "take Shakespeare out into the world and share his astonishing plays with as many people as possible."

The Internet is the latest frontier for theater companies, which have recently gained new audiences through live cinema broadcasts.